Cartels: a Good or a Bad Strategy?

Any organization should seek the efficiency maximization, namely the achievement of an effect/effort ratio as high as possible. In order to apply this economic ground rule, some companies use strategies based on gaining a competitive advantage over competitors. In contrast, other companies choose lighter options to increase profitability. They apply strategies focused on agreements with competitors that aim to maintain prices at a certain level regardless of economic factors governing the market mechanism. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the positive and negative effects of cartels as a management strategy. In this regard, the first part of the article summarizes the most important theories about cartels and their characteristics, while the second part presents some European and Romanian cartels, based on data provided by the European Commission and the Competition Council. The final part presents the most important findings and conclusions but also some recommendations for future research

Financial diagnosis of the „Baia Mare Art Center” County Art Museum

The difficult financial situation that many countries struggle with has made it necessary to find solutions. Particular emphasis is being increasingly placed on a more effective use of state resources within each public institution. To this aim, several legislative restrictions have been passed, aimed at ensuring a more economical use of public money. However, unless each public institution proves to be interested in improving the effectiveness of its activities, such legislative restrictions fail to result in significant financial improvements at a national level. In order to improve the “health” of the Romanian public system, each public institution needs to analyze its own activity on a continuous basis, so as to identify the options for improving its financial performances. Such a financial analysis may be performed based on the data provided by the budgetary income and expenses account. A structural and dynamic analysis of the itemized revenues and expenses, correlated with an analysis of other elements such as stocks and customers, allows the institution both to identify its current situation and to find solutions towards improving the efficiency of its activity. By performing the above-mentioned analysis, this paper aims to establish the current financial status of the “Baia Mare Art Center” County Art Museum, to identify the causes that have led to this situation, as well as to point out solutions that might improve the efficiency of this institution

Sustainable Museums for Sustainable Development

The sustainable development of a region depends on the sustainability and measures taken by all the public and private organizations in the respective area. Museums stand out among these organizations due to the controversies arising in connection with the role they have to play in this process of sustainable development. This paper seeks to analyze whether and why museums should become sustainable and provide an overview on the Romanian museums’ sustainability. The qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with five museum experts showed that the sustainable development of Romania through cultural tourism is threatened due to the fact that few museums take steps towards become sustainable. Among the factors that hinder the process of sustainable change in museums can be mentioned the following: the current legislation, the scarcity and poor training of the human resources, but also the some managers’ misconception on the notion of sustainable museum and their resistance to change

Quality in museums as a way to increase sustainability

Due to the high accent put on sustainable development of communities and on the role played by cultural organisations in this development process, this research starts from the hypothesis that quality may represent a path through which museums can achieve a higher level of sustainability. This hypothesis was tested through semi-structured interviews with experts from museums. The qualitative research showed that museums sustainability has to be measured through quantitative indicators but also through some quality-related indicators. Despite the fact that all experts pointed out a connection between sustainability measurement and quality, they argued that very few Romanian museums are carrying out such studies. Often, museums see quality measurement as something expensive, and thus unaffordable. Based on these facts, the second part of the paper seeks to highlight that quality is a much simpler tool than it is considered and museums can use this tool for improving their sustainability. Thus, the concept of museum quality is clarified by presenting the factors influencing it and some practical models which can be used by museums for measuring quality. By combining empirical and theoretical research, this paper may be of interest for other scholars studying museums sustainability and quality, but also for people working in museums

Sustainable Museums for Sustainable Development

The sustainable development of a region depends on the sustainability and measures taken by all the public and private organizations in the respective area. Museums stand out among these organizations due to the controversies arising in connection with the role they have to play in this process of sustainable development. This paper seeks to analyze whether and why museums should become sustainable and provide an overview on the Romanian museums’ sustainability. The qualitative research based on semi-structured interviews with five museum experts showed that the sustainable development of Romania through cultural tourism is threatened due to the fact that few museums take steps towards become sustainable. Among the factors that hinder the process of sustainable change in museums can be mentioned the following: the current legislation, the scarcity and poor training of the human resources, but also the some managers’ misconception on the notion of sustainable museum and their resistance to change

Quality in museums as a way to increase sustainability

Due to the high accent put on sustainable development of communities and on the role played by cultural organisations in this development process, this research starts from the hypothesis that quality may represent a path through which museums can achieve a higher level of sustainability. This hypothesis was tested through semi-structured interviews with experts from museums. The qualitative research showed that museums sustainability has to be measured through quantitative indicators but also through some quality-related indicators. Despite the fact that all experts pointed out a connection between sustainability measurement and quality, they argued that very few Romanian museums are carrying out such studies. Often, museums see quality measurement as something expensive, and thus unaffordable. Based on these facts, the second part of the paper seeks to highlight that quality is a much simpler tool than it is considered and museums can use this tool for improving their sustainability. Thus, the concept of museum quality is clarified by presenting the factors influencing it and some practical models which can be used by museums for measuring quality. By combining empirical and theoretical research, this paper may be of interest for other scholars studying museums sustainability and quality, but also for people working in museums

Financial diagnosis of the „Baia Mare Art Center” County Art Museum

The difficult financial situation that many countries struggle with has made it necessary to find solutions. Particular emphasis is being increasingly placed on a more effective use of state resources within each public institution. To this aim, several legislative restrictions have been passed, aimed at ensuring a more economical use of public money. However, unless each public institution proves to be interested in improving the effectiveness of its activities, such legislative restrictions fail to result in significant financial improvements at a national level. In order to improve the “health” of the Romanian public system, each public institution needs to analyze its own activity on a continuous basis, so as to identify the options for improving its financial performances. Such a financial analysis may be performed based on the data provided by the budgetary income and expenses account. A structural and dynamic analysis of the itemized revenues and expenses, correlated with an analysis of other elements such as stocks and customers, allows the institution both to identify its current situation and to find solutions towards improving the efficiency of its activity. By performing the above-mentioned analysis, this paper aims to establish the current financial status of the “Baia Mare Art Center” County Art Museum, to identify the causes that have led to this situation, as well as to point out solutions that might improve the efficiency of this institution

Folosirea inovaţiilor tehnologice pentru creşterea accesibilității şi atractivităţii patrimoniului muzeal

Technological development and changes in consumer desires and preferences are external factors uncontrollable by a museum but which have a great influence on its public success. Depending on the attitude and measures taken by a museum, these factors may represent an opportunity or, conversely, a threat, and finally they can become either a strength or a weakness of the museum. Based on these considerations, the purpose of this article is to highlight some practical ways in which museums can use technological innovation in order to gain a competitive advantage. In the first part, the paper presents a series of modern technologies applied in museums that allow them to become more attractive and to better fulfill their functions of storage, conservation, research, and exploitation of the heritage. The second part presents a study conducted at County Museum of Art «Baia Mare Artistic Centre» regarding the measures taken for heritage digitization and, starting from this, for increasing the public access to the museum’s collections

Technological innovations in museums as a source of competitive advantage

In an economic environment characterised by permanent and rapid technological evolution, successful organisations are the ones that are able to adapt their processes and activities to change. This article starts from the assumption that museums can use various modern technologies in order to raise their market competitiveness. Technological innovation allows museums to become more attractive and fulfil their functions better while also using their resources more efficiently. The first part of this paper presents a series of technological innovations specific to museums and the way in which these innovations can lead to an increased museum performance. The study case in the second part of the paper presents the results of an analysis of the technologies used by the museums in Baia Mare in comparison with other Romanian museums. The improvement solutions proposed based on this analysis can prove useful not just for the museums studied, but also for other museums in similar situations. Another, indirect, purpose of this research is to help raise the tourist attractiveness of Baia Mare by bettering the competitiveness of its museums

Drop-Shipping – A Business Model Without Holding Inventory: A Case Study of Online Store

Drop-shipping is a recently new, commonly used fulfilment method, especially in e-commerce sites. By applying dropshipping, many businesses and e-commerce sites have the possibility to reach a much greater customer base, as well as manage their business without holding, in most cases, any product as stock. This order fulfilment method has made possible the existence of drop-shipping as a business model, people from all over the world being able to sell items internationally, without ever seeing them. Also, the start-up cost for such a business is rather low, since there is no need for deposit means, a physical store, or even employees. However, the low barrier of entry this business model determines many people to try it, which is why the competition is very high. Even though the business looks easy, the low barrier of entry and the great competition means that only a small fraction of the new drop-shipping businesses get profitable. This paper will analyze what are the odds of turning such a business profitable while also looking at which are the pillars of drop shipping and most importantly, how the people who succeed are doing it. The proposed theoretical model is illustrated through a case study conducted at a dropshipping store that is selling back posture correctors. The results of the study are useful both, for practitioners and scholars interested in the topic of drop-shipping